BANTRY BLUES 2024 - A REVIEW 
REPORTS 

The club finished the year with a small surplus of income over expenditure with growth in income but also expenditure during the year. There was two LOTTO wins ( €17300 & €6200 ) paid out during the year and €60,664 paid out on Pitch Development & Maintenance while the CLubs Draw, Lotto Sponsorship , Rising Tide Festival , Golf Classic & Membership generated the bulk of Club revenue. The surplus for the year will cover upcoming bills for completion of the Sensorry Garden and Water storage completion.
With continued development proposed of Floodlight provision ( Grant of €72k awarded ) with a cost in the range of €150-€200K, subtantial funds need to be raised in the year ahead to ensure completion of this project

 

MEMBERSHIP SIGN UP
FOIREANN ( GAA ONLINE SYSTEM )                                          >  76%
MANUAL : CASH & CHEQUE                                                        >  24%
MEMBERSHIP GROWTH : 2023 to 2024
PLAYER | +9%
Non PLAYER |+ 5%
TOTAL MEMBERSHIP |+ 8%

( 4) PITCH COMMITTEE:

Thanks to all who helped out on match days especially where stewarding / ticket sales / collection to ensure the event ran safely & smoothly
TRAINING SCHEDULE Club Chairs liaised and produced a template schedule, which was adjusted when times changed, with teams using the Mentors Whats App Group to agree on any changes or advise of cancelations and free slots 

Thank You to all our Volunteers for the help with GRASS CUTTING / FERTILISING / SPRAYING / PITCH LINING & GENERAL WORK In WOLFE TONE PARK 

(5) a: FOOTBALL

2024 Premier Intermediate Football ReportDivision 4 Football LeaguePlayed 9 gamesWon 2:  Glanworth (h) and Boherbue (h)Draws 3: Naomh Abhan (a), St Vincents (a) and Uibh laoire (a)Lost 4: Ahabulloge (h), Bandon (a), Ilen Rovers (a) and Glanmire (h)

Championship.Bantry Blues beat Nemo rangers in the first round by 10 points.They then beat Bandon in round 2 by 6 points.In round 3 already qualified they lost to Naomh Aban.In the quarter final they then lost to Uibh laoire.    My thanks to David O’Donovan, his managementteam and our players for all the hard work they put in, not just for this year but also for the pastthree years.Bringing the Blues to two county finals and a quarter final is no mean achievement. We all wish them the very best for 2025.Report by Chairman

PREMIER INTERMEDIATE FOOTBALLERS SPONSORED by :

Junior B Football 2024 • In 2024, 39 Adult footballers played 17 Junior games: 7 league, 2C’ship, 7 challenge games & the Henry Deane cup•

We started the season with a league game against Goleen on 3rdMarch here in the Park.  We played a total of 7 league games, won 2 & lost 5 so as a result have been relegated.  It was always a struggle to organise and get players out for league games as unfortunately many players were required to play both PI league games and Jnr games, and of course PI was always the priority. We also had to factor in minor games as we had a number of minors on our panel.  So as a result it was not so surprising that we struggled to get results in some of our league games.•

On a fine sunny evening on 31st August we played Spa in the Henry Deane cup here in Bantry.  Spa made a great start to the game but our lads got into the game and won comfortably in the end.  Mary Deane presented the Henry Deane cup to our captain fantastic Brian Gleeson so it was great that the cup is staying this side of the county bounds for another year. Thank you to Brian Gleeson for organising Spa to come over to Bantry during a busy time for organising matches.

  • In C’ship we were in a group with Dunmanway & Clan na nGael. In our first game against Dunmanway we didn’t perform and lost.  We organised 2 challenges games after that to get ready for our game against Clan na nGael but again we didn’t perform on the night and lost.  This was again disappointing as most lads were training during the year but unfortunately we did not perform for C’ship games

.• Well done to the nearly 40 players that played Junior football this year and gave commitment to attend adult player training sessions.  While we have made improvements over the last 3 years on the Jnr football set-up, there are still opportunities for further improvements on how all adult players from minor, u21, Jnr & Intermediate train together and how matches for each of the groups are managed to ensure each panel, and players themselves, are making the most of games.  This will help with the ongoing challenge of Adult player participation.  • I would like to thank our sponsors Bantry Credit Union for their continued generous sponsorship.• I want to thank our Junior mentors Richard Slatertownsend, Tony O’Shea, Ivan Kingston, Colin Clancy. Also, thank you to Pat Joe for keeping us supplied with clean jerseys and keeping us in touch with West Cork board.• Last year I said that I would not be able to commit to Jnr football in 2024 but as there were no others signed up, I ended up staying with the group for one last year.  Definitely for 2025 I will not be able to be involved in Jnr football management due to other commitments.  I wish the incoming Jnr Management group all the best with the year ahead. 

JUNIOR B FOOTBALL SPONSORED by : 

(iii) U21 FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

U21Football Report West Cork Championship The U21 football squad had a very successful season again this year, winning the A West Cork Title. We started training in January with the Intermediate lads and Footballs sessions on Sunday mornings. We had a 4 week build up to Championship, We played a challenge game v Gabriel Rangers the week prior to our semi final v Clonakilty. A really good win over Clon in the semi final with a scoreline of 0.15 to 2.06. The Final played in Dunmanway v Ibane Gaels was probably one of the best performances the lads have ever put together completely dominating from start to finish. From a management point of view we were delighted with the progress of this team considering that we had managed to beat either of these two sides in championship all the way up through the underage grades. County Championship In the County Championship we were drawn v Beara in the ¼ Final. This was played in Kealkil on the 3rd of November. Unfortunately, this was not our day and were beaten by a strong Beara side. Definitely the physical Again from a management point of view, this was a tough lesson for the lads but we believe they will learn from it. Also our preparation could have been better, we struggled to get a challenge game prior to the ¼ final. We trained really well but the lack of match practice was definitely an issue. *Note* The gap between West Cork Championship and County Championship is to long and we believe it should be ran straight through. Any momentum we had after West Cork was well and truly gone when County came around. Looking forward to next year’s championship, we believe we are a good place as there are only 4 players overage. A good crop of young lads coming through from minor age boosting our squad. The experience gained this year will stand to the lads. The goal has to be to retain the West Cork and give the County a real good rattle. Thank you to the committee for all their help and to the pitch committee for making the pitch available for training and challenge games early in the season when most pitches are closed. Also a big thank you to our sponsors Bantry Credit Union for their continued support. Thank you to Tony, Timmy and Damo for their help during the season. Looking forward to 2025 season !! Ivan and Ger
U21s SPONSORED by BANTRY CREDIT UNION 

2024 has been a great year on the field of play for the various teams in the Ladies Club.Tremendous work has been put in at underage level over the last few years and great credit must go to our fantastic coaches and mentors who are doing a wonderful job in developing our young players.Our u8 and u10 Girls took part in various blitz's,Go Games and challenge games throughout the year and they all enjoyed their football and put in some great performances.Our u12 Girls played in a number of Go-Games and challenge games and gave a great account of themselves.As there was no competitive football at u12 level this year we entered a second team into the u13 league at a lower grade ,which was made up of u11 and u12 girls.The girls were competitive in all their games and hopefully this will have helped them prepare for next seasons league and County competitions.Our u13 first team had a great run and they qualified for a West Cork final which they unfortunately lost to a strong Caheragh side.Our u14 girls also had a great year.After a strong campaign they qualified for a West Cork final against Dohenys and came away with a great win on the night.They then went on to the County Championship where again they qualified for the final and had a fine win over Shamrocks in Ballyvourney to complete a marvellous double.Our u15 Girls qualified for a West Cork final but unfortunately lost out to Ibane Ladies but they had a great win in the u15 Féile,winning the competition after overcoming some strong teams.Our u16 girls also qualified for a West Cork final but unfortunately lost out to a good  Courcey Rovers side on the night.Our Minor ladies also had a very successful season.After some good wins they also qualified for a West Cork final and had a great win over Rosscarbery in Church Cross to take home the cup.After a fine County Championship campaign they also qualified for a County final where they again met Rosscarbery.After a superb performance they came away with fantastic win to also complete a double of West Cork and County championships.Our Junior Ladies had a great season aswell.After a terrific league campaign they qualified for the Div.3 County league final at home against a very strong Midleton side.After a fiercely competitive game our girls emerged victorious on the day and it was great to see them lift the cup on our home turf.Following on from a highly competitive County Championship campaign they then qualified for a County semi final away to Midleton but it was Midleton who came away with the spoils on this occasion.This year also saw our Gaelic4Mothers&Others team take to the field for the first time.This proved to be a very enjoyable endeavour and was a great success with the participants playing against various local teams in a non competitive environment and friendly atmosphere.A special thanks to Anne o Grady for getting this off the ground and making it so enjoyable for everyone involved.
Again I want to thank all our coaches/mentors from u8 all the way up to Adult level for their hard work and dedication throughout the year.It's great to see good representation from our club at divisional level and we wish the best of luck to Caragh McCarthy on the u13 West Cork Ladies squad and to Ciara Kelly and Ella Foley with the u15 squad who are playing in their respective finals shortly.Best of luck also to Emma Spillane,Eve Murphy,Rachel Murphy,Bernadette o Flynn,Sarah Bishop and Caitlin o Mahony with the West Cork Senior Ladies squad.Well done to Rachel Murphy,Caitlin o Mahony and Eve Murphy who played on the Cork Senior ladies B team this year.Finally a huge congratulations to Anne o Grady who was recently appointed to the Cork Senior Ladies management team.We wish Anne all the best and good luck in her new role.
I would like to thank everyone who helped out with our fundraising activities throughout the year.Again we held two very successful Peil Camps in 2024.Both Easter and Summer Peil Camps were very well attended and raised just over €5000 for the Ladies Club.A huge thanks to all the volunteers who helped out with both Camps.A huge thanks also to Bantry Credit Union who sponsored mini gear bags and pens for all the kids who attended Summer Peil Camp.Their support every year is greatly appreciated.We recently had our annual Ladies Club flag day and we raised a fantastic €1493 on the day and again I would like to thank everyone who helped out with that.
I want to thank Conor Cronin and Michael o Sullivan from the Juvenile club for all their help and cooperation throughout the year especially for organising a joint awards night for our u6 to u12 Juvenile players which was a great success.I would also like to thank Arthur Coakley,Kevin Healy, Pat Joe Connolly,Flor Murphy,Tony Connolly,Jerry Sheehan and Philly Spillane for all their help during the year.A special thanks to Eddie Wiseman for putting up the various reports and pictures of games and events etc on the club app throughout the year which was a great help in promoting ladies football in our community.There is a great relationship between the main club and the ladies club in Bantry and long may that continue.I would like to convey a special word of thanks to our sponsors.To Geraldine, Martin and Jesse Hegarty from Hegarty's Mace who came on board to sponsor our Gaelic4Mothers&Others team in their inaugural season.To Albie Andrews at Bantry Bath and Tile who's ongoing commitment and support for our Juvenile Ladies teams has been unbelievable and is so much appreciated.Thanks to John and Margie McSweeny at John McSweeny Plant Hire and Tree Cutting Services who came on board as our Adult team sponsors this year.We hope this will be the beginning of a great relationship with the club.
Finally I would like to thank my fellow committee members for all their efforts throughout 2024.Vice Chair Johnny o Shea,Secretary Anne o Grady,Treasurer Mary o Sullivan, PRO Shirley Murphy,Children's officer Claire Russell and Injuries officer Debbie Delaney.A lot of work was put in by everyone this year so a huge thanks to you all.
We are always looking for people to get involved in the Ladies Club,be it as a coach/mentor,at committee level or to assist in our fundraising activities.If anyone would like to get involved you would be more than welcome so please don't hesitate to contact me.Mike Russell Chairman Bantry Blues Ladies Football Club.

Bantry Blues Juvenile Club Report 2024Once again the Juvenile club had a very busy 2024 The year began with our AGM on Wednesday January 24th where we reviewed 2023 and planned for 2024. On the night our PRO, Elaine Courtney, announced she was stepping down after a number of years in the role. Thanks to Elaine for her years of dedicated service to Bantry Blues. Kagan O’Driscoll was appointed as PRO on the night. Where 2023 presented challenges in terms of multiple even and odd age grades throughout the year, thankfully 2024 was much more streamlined with Rebel Og reverting to the primary age grades at under 12, 124, 16 and 18. While there were also secondary competitions at under 13 and 15 the entry criteria set out by Rebel Og make entry by smaller rural clubs like Bantry much more onerous. Despite these challenges we did manage to enter and field an under 13 side but the scheduling did not allow us to enter an under 15 team.

On the field the year began with our under 16 footballers comfortably defeating O’Donovan Rossa at home on February 25th. The games have continued right throughout the year with an Under 16 hurling shield final between Cill Mochomog and Newcestown still due to be played. Once again this year the juvenile club have played 102 competitive ( U12 to U18 ) games with teams fielded from every age group from under 7 up to under 18. FootballThe main highlight was the success of our minor football team with victories in the Rebel Og west and county final wins.

The management of this team deserve huge credit for the way they brought the team on following a difficult end to the 2023 season at under 17 level. This was especially seen on the night of the county final where, when trailing by 5 points at half time, they made some radical changes to the line up and were rewarded with an excellent second half display which allowed Odhran Crowley to lift the cup on behalf of this young side. This team had 8 players on the night that played their last game at underage level. It is now incumbent on the club to ensure that we retain these players by providing them with a consistent training and games calendar at junior and/or Premier Intermediate level. Thanks to the management of John Harrington, Liam Minehane, Michael O’Sullivan, Shane Drummey and Joe O’Donnell.At under 16 level following our county final win at under 15 level in 2023 it was decided to move this team up a grade to Division 1 in 2024. Despite moving up a grade the team more than held their own and topped the league table with 6 wins and 1 draw. Unfortunately their sole defeat in the league came in the league final against Kinsale. In championship Kinsale would once again prove to be a thorn in our side when they defeated us on a very wet Monday night in late August. The team recovered well and went on to the shield competition which they won comfortably following a replay against Castlehaven. The way the players on this team adapted to the higher grade of football and the fact that 10 of the under 16 panel were also part of the successful minor panel augurs well for the future. Thanks to the management team of Cathal McCarthy, Sean McCarthy and Michael O’Sullivan.At under 14 level season began on St Patricks day with a defeat away to Ilen Rovers. While this team had a slow start to the league and championship by the end of the season we can safely say they are one of the most improved teams in the club. This was evidenced by the way they defeated Castlehaven in the Shield Final scoring 6-21 on the night. Another positive with this team is the large number of players who are underage again in 2025. The number of under 13s allowed us the opportunity to enter the under 13 league where we got some great games. Unfortunately, here once again we had a team that topped the league table but lost out in the league final by just a point following a terrific game again Sliabh Rua. Thanks to the management team of Joe Murphy, Tim Whooley, Barry O’Shea and Brian Crowley. Thanks also to Annmarie Ward who did all the messaging and communication with regards to games.HurlingWhile the promotion of hurling in a football town like Bantry is a constant challenge the club continues to field teams from under 7 up to under 14. We also field with St Colums as an independent team under the Cill Mochomog banner at under 16 and 18 level. On the field the highlight was the under 14 hurlers win in the Rebel Og west championship. This team dominated this championship from start to finished with their nearest challengers only getting within 7 points of them on their way to final. On the day of the final against the team never let up as they were determined not to be a team that topped the group phase, only to be caught in the final. In the county semi-final against Donoghamore it was a case of what might have been following a one point defeat after an epic battle. Thanks to the team managers Paul O’Sullivan and Conor Cronin.Cill MochomogThis year Cill Mochomog fielded teams at under 16 to and 18. The under 16s played Division 1 and had a difficult year due to playing numbers for this level. They did regroup however to reach the shield final, which at the time of writing is still due to be played. The under 18s also had a difficult year and found it difficult to build any sort of momentum and bowed out of championship 2024 at the semi-final stage following a defeat away to Newcestown who subsequently went on to win county honours.Thanks to Michael O’Sullivan, Jimmy O’Sullivan, and Anthony Murnane for all their help with ensuring the smooth running of Cill Mochomog. Coaching and Games:As a club we continue to provide coaching to our local National Schools. This year saw the amalgamation of Our Lady Of Mercy, National School and St Finbarr’s Boys National School. We would like to thank all those who promoted our games in both schools down the years and in particular we would like to pay tribute to Mr Brian Gleeson who stood down as principal following the amalgamation and to congratulate the new principal Mr Cathal McCarthy. SFBNS SCIATH na SCOIL While we congratulate Cathal on his new role, there is also an element of sadness due to the fact that he is stepping down as Coaching and Games Officer. We would like to thank Cathal for all his work over the last number of years. We are sure he will continue to promote our games in his new role. In terms to coaching and development while 2024 saw the appointment of a new GDC for the Bantry and Beara area, we have not as of yet seen the benefits of this new role and we also believe that confining this role to just our secondary schools is unworkable in an area like Bantry and Beara. Once again this year we were very proud with the numbers of players who have gone on and played under 21, Junior hurling and football and premier intermediate football for Bantry over the last year. We would like to pay tribute to Mark Og O’Sullivan and Dara Sheedy who both lined out with the Cork under 20 footballers this year.Whilst success at underage level is very welcome and winning trophies gives us all a great lift, the priority for the juvenile club has to be to ensure we provide a welcoming fun environment to retain develop our players to add and refresh our adult teams every year. Looking to 2025 the ages grades will remain at even ages with the main competition ages being under 12 (league only) and under 14, 16 and 18. Once again there are proposed secondary competitions for under 13 and 15 and C3 completions for second teams but as mentioned above the current Rebel Og proposals make entering these competitions difficult for rural clubs like us. We continue to feed back to Rebel Og our displeasure at this decision as we feel it would be beneficial to enter a second under 16 or an under 15 team if we have the numbers to do so.While all our teams and their managements can now take a well-earned rest, off the field we are busy preparing for our annual awards night which will be held in the Maritime Hotel on December 13th. This year, once again we are very happy to report that the awards night will be held in conjunction with the ladies club.
Gradings and Management Team:Another priority over the next 4-6 weeks is looking at our various management teams. As with other organisations we are finding it increasing difficult to find people to volunteer their time. Indeed a number of our coaches are involved with 2 or more teams. We continue to appeal to parents, current players and ex-players to help out with our various teams. We will also be working with Rebel Og with regards to gradings for our teams in 2025BANTRY BLUES JUVENILE CLUB SPONSORS ( U13 - U18 )

Floodlighting:The Juvenile club were delighted to hear that the club were successful in receiving a government sports capital grant for floodlighting one of our playing pitches. We believe that this should be the number 1 off field priority for incoming executive in 2025 and will be hugely beneficial to our teams particularly teams that still involved in competitions in October and NovemberStrength and ConditioningThe feedback from a number of our team managements from under 14 right through to under 18 believe that this is an area that needs development. We believe that the club needs to take an “all of club” approach to this and not have just the adult senior team doing their own thing. The club also needs to look at the area of nutrition and look at providing nutrition advice to our teams periodically throughout the year. This could be done virtually in our opinion.Thanks to our sponsors Bantry Credit Union and O’Keeffe’s SuperValu. We continue to be without a sponsor for our under 7 to under 12 age group which is very disappointing. Thanks to all our coaches and mentors for all their time and effort throughout the year. I do really appreciate all the effort and time you all give to the club Finally thanks to the juvenile club committee for all their work. Our secretary Michael, assistant secretary Caroline O’Connell, PRO Kagan O’Driscoll, Registrar Karen Deasy, Vice Chair Gerard O’Brien, Children’s officer Magella O’Mahony.Hopefully 2025 will bring us more success.Conor CroninCathaoirleach, Bantry Blues Juvenile club

I am glad to report that this year the club reached the highest compliance with all coaches having both their Garda vetting and safeguarding course up to date.
Going forward we need to strive to maintain this excellent compliance rate.  An area for improvement is to increase compliance in the introduction course in coaching which is absent in some coaches at present.
A note for the coaches, mentors & potential new coaches for 2025: A lot of coaches will need to renew their Garda Vetting and Safeguarding early this year. Please use the “quiet time” between now and the commencement of the playing season to remind yourselves that everyone involved with your club dealing with players under 18 years are fully Child Welfare Compliant.Each mentor dealing with juvinelle players on an underage team or an adult team must be Garda Vetted  Safeguarded Have completed the Introduction to Gaelic Games Coaching Course.
If they are not fully compliant they cannot be legally involved with players under 18 years of ageGarda Vetting: Garda Vetting recognition has to be renewed every 3 years via the Foireann System. 
Safeguarding Training Reminder:Safeguarding 1 (for all coaches/mentors) has to be completed every three years – face to face followed by online refresher followed by face to face and so on. 
My four year term as Childrens officer for Bantry Blues has now come to an end, it had been both an honour and a privilege to be part of this club. I would sincerely like to thank all my fellow committee members both past and present for their ongoing support throughout my term as Childrens officer. I would like to wish the new Childrens officer for the club the very best of luck. 
Wishing the club a very successful 2025. 
Majella

· Information circulated about the Gaeltacht Scholarship to relevant club members.· Communication with the Carbery group for Scór.· Attended  Scór meeting for the Carbery Group.·  information circulated about Scór na nÓg to relevant club members & responded to any queries regarding scór.· There was one music group interested in competing, but they pulled out before the competition.· There was interest in the quiz but not enough for a whole team.· There are no dates yet for Carbery competetions for Scór na bPáistí and Scór Sinsir. I am hopeful the club would have people to compete in these competitions.(10) INJURIES OFFICER REPORT
Injuries Officer Report as of 25/11/2024:The GAA Injury Benefit Fund is a Self-funded benefit fund, funded entirely from GAA funds with no outside involvement. The Injury Fund is not an Insurance Scheme and is therefore, not regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. As payments from the fund come directly from GAA funds, there is no Insurer involved with the fund. There is no legal obligation on the GAA to provide such a fund. Risk is an inherent factor in sport, as in life. When members voluntarily take part in Club \ County activities particularly playing activities in contact sports, they accept the risks that such participation may bring. Each player needs to ensure that they have adequate cover in place to meet their own individual needs and personal circumstances. The GAA Injury Benefit Fund is only in place to cover benefits which cannot be claimed elsewhere and is a benefit cover only.The playing of Gaelic Football & Hurling involves the risk of Injury, and it is each individual registered player’s responsibility to familiarise themselves with the terms and benefits of the GAA Injury Benefit Fund. The Injury Benefit Fund only provides cover for unrecoverable losses up to the limits specified. In summary, the GAA Injury Benefit Fund is in place to cover benefits which cannot be claimed elsewhere. Therefore, if a claimant is seeking to claim benefit from the fund, they must exhaust all other avenues before making a claim under the GAA Injury Benefit Fund. Furthermore, the Injury Benefit Fund should not be used as a guarantee for the payment of expenses. Ultimately, the responsibility to ensure that adequate cover is in place lies with the individual member.Reports are only submitted to the injuries board when there is more than physio required. The Club will cover 3 sessions of physio for any injured player to a max of €40 per session. The injured player will organise their own physio, pay the bill and submit their invoice to the club. You will need the Injury Form (Pink Slip) from your trainer to get payment on 3 session.Who is covered under the GAA Injury Benefit Fund?The GAA Injury Benefit Fund applies to:1.1 Registered Players who play on a team registered with the GAA Injury Benefit Fund who incur an accidental bodily injury while playing Hurling, Gaelic Football, during an official competitive Fixture or an Official Sanctioned challenge match.1.2 Match officials’ i.e., referees, linesmen or umpires injured while officiating at an official competitive fixture of Hurling, Gaelic Football. There is no cover under the GAA Injury Benefit Fund for injuries sustained at unauthorised \ unofficial competitions, charity events.Please note that there is no cover under the GAA injury Benefit Fund for injuries sustained whilst playing outside the Island of Ireland. Any medical treatment that occurs outside the Island of Ireland is not covered either.Currently Bantry Blues GAA have 5 opened injury claims on our System.All claims are up to date and are a work in progress between the injuries officer – the injured individual and the Injuries board.Each claim must be reported by the individual to the injuries officer no more than 60 days after the injury (day 1 being the day of the injury)Report as follows: Report your injury to your trainer.Your Trainer will then complete the Injuries Form otherwise known as the pink slip and hand this to you.You then attend your GP/Physio to identify what injury you have.For Injuries that just require physio, you can attend your own physio therapist and get refunded €40 per session to a max of 3 sessions. Invoices from the physio must be submitted to the Club. If you require anything other than physio, you will need to report your injury to the Clubs Injury Officer (within 60 days of the injury). The injured individual must then liaise with the injuries officer and provide information and documentation within a timely manner for submission to the injuries board.

Ball4All Ball4All started off with a Jersey presentation and skill demonstration at the rising tide festival, great fun was had by all. There were weekly sessions from then until the end of September,  developing skills through games, in particular rounders. Many thanks to Dara Sheedy for presenting medals to the players to finish off the season. A massive thank you to Caroline Hodnett and Christine O’Donovan for leading the sessions this year, ably assisted by Emma Barry, Damien O’Donovan,  Anne Marie Ward, Aoidhe Murphy and Cliodhna O’Shea.  Looking forward to next season already. Christmas 7s Our Christmas 7s took place on the 28th of December 2023, the numbers dropped a good bit from last year, so we are going to give it a break for this year, and maybe organise one during the summer if there is a gap in fixtures. Thanks to the organising committee of Laura O’Sullivan, Jessica & Ann Coakley, Kenneth Deane, John Harrington, Daniel Sheehan, Kevin Harrington and Mark O’Donovan for running the event, tanks also to Tommy Barry and Francis Quill for officiating. Ireland Lights up In Jan we took part in Ireland lights up/ Operation Transformation, there were 6 nights, consisting of two options 3k or 5 k.  It started off with a good attendance for the first few nights, but with weather deteriorating the attendance dwindled.  It with have to be re-examined for 2025. Thanks to Debbie Delaney and Dorris McGrath for organising this initiative. 
Darkness into light A heartfelt thank you to everyone who made Bantry Darkness into Light 2024 walk a truly memorable and meaningful event once again. 🌟We extend our deepest gratitude to: The dedicated DIL Committee, Kyra O’Shea, Danny Collins, Anne O’Grady & Mark O’Donovan for their tireless efforts and commitment to making the event a success. A big round of applause to the local primary schools for their beautiful artwork that adorned our clubhouse walls, spreading positivity and hope.  Special thanks to Colaiste Pobail  Bheanntrai students for volunteering and helping the committee in coordinating the art and decorating the clubhouse and route, a massive thank you to the primary schools for providing the art work. The stewards who ensured traffic and safety were managed smoothly throughout the morning. Our generous suppliers of refreshments Supervalu, Lidl, and Mace, and a special shoutout to the volunteers who served us with a smile.  Huge appreciation to the Gardaí, Bantry Fire Brigade and Red Cross for their invaluable support in keeping everyone safe. Most importantly, thank you to all who rose early and stood in solidarity with us, showing your support for mental health awareness. Litter pick On Sunday the 18th of August, 10 volunteers helped out for an hour to do a litter pick around town, thanks to all of those that turned up to help.  Health screening Bantry Blues Healthy Club in association with the Dillon Quirke Foundation hosted a FREE HEALTH SCREENING for 12 to 18 year olds, 45 youths availed of this service from as far away as Castlehaven. Thanks to Scoil Mhuire agus Bharra for the use of their Summerhill campus. A massive thank you to the AMS health team and most importantly to the Dillon Quirke Foundation for covering the cost of this very important event. We hope to raise a donation to the Dillon Quirke Foundation in 2025.
Movember Ahead of the Game On Monday the 25th of March our Healthy club team hosted the Movember ‘Ahead of the Game’ program which is a youth mental health program, the session was delivered by Martin Stackpole and Conor Bohane representing the Gaelic Players Association in collaboration with Movember and the Healthy clubs.  The program teaches players, parents, coaches, and volunteers to understand mental health, build mental fitness and strengthen resilience. Players learn how to deal with challenges in both sport and life. There were 2 sessions, one for the U14 boys on their own and another session for the support group for the lads, both sessions were thought provoking, interactive and got good discussions going on the evening. 
Bantry Blues ALCOHOL & DRUG WORKSHOP  This workshop is being run country wide by the GAA and is aimed at coaches, volunteers, committees, parents & adult players within all Codes and any other adults involved in the Club. The workshop was facilitated by GAA Healthy Club facilitators in association with the HSE with workshop presenters Gordon Kinsley & Danny Fitzpatrick. With a large cross section of attendees from the club with U21 players & Senior players ( Ladies & Men’s) Coaches, Club Committee members & Parents, this workshop was extremely interactive with the presenters making this a very engaging  workshop. With discussions on alcohol abuse and impact on player performance to one’s general health, the impact of others substances such as cocaine & performance enhancing drugs, this was a very informative event. One of the key messages of the evening was education on “alcohol & other substances “ and the message of “know” – be informed, know the healthy alcohol limits and be aware of drugs and what could be in them. Another key message was that there is help out there and people to talk to. If someone needs help. Thanks to the Maritime hotel for their help with this workshop.
Sensory Garden Our sensory garden project has become a reality, it has to be mentioned that not many clubs would have given the green light for this project, that we have, is a great sign of what we are and can continue to be and strengthen in our community. A few numbers to show the work that has gone into the project - · 18 cubic meters of concrete · 2000 blocks · 90 tonne of stone · 15 tonne of sand · 60 bags of cement · 53 Volunteers not including the 25 players that helped stack blocks after training · 610 hours Many thanks to Drimoleague Concrete, Murphy & O’Connors, John McSweeney plant hire, Bantry Hire & Sales and Laide & O’Brien for being so good to us throughout the project. A special word of thanks to Denise Collins and her family for donating the swing bench to the project. Denise and her family are very thankful to the people of Bantry for the friendship and kindness that was shown to their Dad while he lived in our town, Christy passed away last year, may he rest in peace. The feedback on this project has been very positive, it’s a great example of what we can achieve if we pull together . Finally, to all of those that helped out in any way during the project, thank you so much! Like they say in the Oscars, this really wouldn’t have been possible without you, it’s at times like this that we see the strength of our club. We will have an official opening in the spring and look forward to welcoming all of the volunteers back to enjoy their handy work.
Defibrillator training
Ian Vickery is happy to come & do a CPR demo with our members/coaches on the 24th of January, hopefully people will make themselves available for this potentially lifesaving information/demonstration.  He will talk through what would happen in an emergency situation & how best to assist. It shouldn’t take more than an hour of people’s time & we can also make sure everyone is familiar with how to access our defibrillator & what it looks like. Appreciation  Thanks to Liz Campbell of the Grapevine and Eddie Wiseman for their help promoting our HC activities. A special thanks to Caroline Hodnett and Debbie Delaney for their help throughout 2024, we are delighted to welcome Debbie Cronin and Mike Murphy to our HC team for 2025. I’m sure they will bring great energy and some new ideas to push us along on our HC journey.  Blues Abú Warm regards,  Mark O’Donovan  Bantry Blues Healthy Club officer 

Field Irrigation System for Wolfe Tone ParkDuring the Summer months, we rely on contractors to water our pitches, they use slurry tankers with rain guns towed by tractors also the drains are watered by smaller car/van towed water tanks, as there is a lot of work involved (mainly done by Philly and very few others) it was decided by the committee to explore the possibility of providing our own solution to watering the pitches. We looked at other clubs and got costings for the different systems.We decided to proceed with the project and build it in phases funded with monies raised by the Rising Tide FestivalPhase 1: John McSweeney cleared an area to allow future access from Alec O’Donovan’s Road and an area to place up to four water tanks, a small pump house and a drilled well.Aidan Brosnan completed drilling the well to 220 ft and said it could give 1,250 litres an hour. If the well would give that volume of water an hour it would be able to pump 30,000 litres to storage in a 24-hour period.As we have two fields that may need extensive watering, if we have dry spell or a heatwave, we can put out 60,000 litres or more every 2 days depending on well capacity.Michael and Peter Downey fitted and tuned the pump, they were very pleased with the amount of water in the well and are confident it can produce the required the volume of water required in a 24-hour period.Reason for having tank capacity with the right equipment it allows you to put large volumes of water out in a very short time period thus cutting down on labour and getting the watering completed in the evening when we have volunteers available. ​4 Kingspan 15,000 litre water tanks = 60,000 litres storage supplied by Murphy & O’Connor, Brian and Majella O’Keeffe generously sponsored 1 tank Murphy and O’Connor €8,856 for 3 tanksMichael Downey cost of pump €1,800.00Brosnan Drilling cost of well €4.000.00McSweeney contractors for excavating area not known as they included it other jobs for club.Probably €17,000 cost to datePhase 2 and maybe a Phase 3We need to build a pump house and fit a high-pressurepump to get water out on to the fields we got an estimate of €35,000 euro from P.J.Doer to supply and fit pump and supply retractable reel to water pitches (hopefully we can find a more cost effective solution) As we were successful in our capital grant application our solar panels would offset the cost of running pumps 

It was another busy year in the club with lots of onfield activity with over 200 competitive games from U12 to Adult along with GOGAMES & SKILLS for KIDS Activity, with Mothers & Others also being active with games and not forgetting out BALL4ALL team who were also active during the year.Off the field communication on Club activity kept going throughout the year starting in Jan with Membership & Rebels Bounty. As the year progressed and activity increased with fortnightly Club Lotto promotion and results, Healthy Club activity & events and other Club events there was plenty of news within the club. Covering all this would not be possible without the help and support of fellow club members who assisted in the promotion of club activities throughout the year.
 I would like to thank all the different people in the different club sectors who provided reports and photos during the year> Juvenile Club : Kagan ODriscoll, Danny Murray , Mike OSullivan, Johns Harrington & Conor Cronin> Ladie s Club : Shirley Murphy, Mike Russell &Anne OGrady> Adult Club : Mike Lynch , Colbert OSullivan & Karen Salter Townsend> Healthy Club : Caroline Hodnet & Mark ODonovan > LOTTO : Conor Cronin> REBELS BOUNTY : Niamh ODriscoll > Membership : Jerry Sheehan> Rising Tide Festival : Liam Coakley

| 2024 TOP VIEWED STORIES ( CLUB WEBSITE ) ( no 12 ( 1400 views > No 1 3500 views ) 
1 | PADDY REGAN LOTTO WIN
2 | HENRY DEANE CUP Success
3 | HEALTHY CLUB ACREDITATION NOTIFICATION 
4 | Anne Ogrady announcement as Cork LGFA Senior Mngt
5 | CPB U19 Munster Final Loss
6 | U18 Co Final Victory
7 | Cork U20s D Sheedy & M OSullivan 
8 | 2024 Premier Intermediate Championship Draw
9 | RISING TIDE FESTIVAL ANNOUNCEMENT
10 | Sensorary GardenProject  Announcement
11 | Christmas 7s
12 | U16 West Cork Shield Win

Average story views on CLUB NEWS App is c. 1000 views per story 
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